Johnny I hardly knew ye
by NewPaladin
Summary: Songfic; Not everybody returns from the battlefield...


Me: Hehe, hi. I´m back. And NOT with the SethXEirika one-shots. This one here was short so I translated it first. ^^;

Seth: Eh, we´re used to your laziness by now.

Geoffrey: Yup. :)

Me: Hey, hey no happiness please. This is a sad ´fic.

Geoffrey: Oops. Wait... No, I can´t be sad. Sorry.

Me: Puh... Seth, we need a disclaimer.

Seth: I don´t want to do it. It´s stupid.

Me: I soooo don´t care. Then you both will do it.

Seth&Geoffrey: NewPaladin does neither own the characters in this ´fic nor the song she used. It belongs to The Irish Rovers (At least the version she used).

Me: Good. Cookies for both of you.

Seth&Geoffrey: Yeah!!

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_While goin' the road to sweet Athy, hurroo, hurroo_

_While goin' the road to sweet Athy, hurroo, hurroo_

_While goin' the road to sweet Athy_

_A stick in me hand and a drop in me eye_

_A doleful damsel I heard cry,_

_Johnny I hardly knew ye._

Blood and flesh flew through the air. Seth drove his lance through his opponent. The man dropped with a wretched gurgling, his weapon rolled from his lifeless fingers. Seth pulled his lance from the man´s chest; a cracking and the smacking of the flesh was heard. Without looking back Seth continued. More opponents with raised weapons charged at him. He lifted his lance again and lunged at them with a loud battle cry.

After a few minutes Seth stepped over more dead bodies. His armor and clothes were stained with sweat and blood, one blot was on his forehead and mingled with his red hair. You couldn't tell them apart. Seth noticed in the corner of his eyes a movement; he recognized Franz, a young cavalier of Renais. The boy fought afoot against an armored knight. Franz used a steel lance and seemed to have no big problems. Seth turned and left to defeat the next foes.

The battlefield was filled with shouts of pain and the smell of gore and metal. Seth tore through his opponents as if they were air or paper. He left a trail of bodies behind him while he cut through the rows of people, soaking the earth with blood. Seth thought nothing; his mind was a hazy fog when he looked the men in the eye, watching how the life left them. They were opponents, nothing more.

Several hours later, the battle was won. Tired and satisfied with his performance Seth walked back to their camp. Calmly he stepped over the bodies. The green grass had disappeared under the corpses of men and animal alike. Seth had to watch out because the ground was slippery so he used his lance as a walking stick. He had passed the body of a giant knight when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He had seen a flash of blond hair. At his feet lay a young boy.

_Where are your eyes that were so mild, hurroo, hurroo _

_Where are your eyes that were so mild, hurroo, hurroo _

_Where are your eyes that were so mild_

_When my heart you so beguiled_

_Why did ye run from me and the child_

_Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye._

Franz looked at him with blank eyes. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth. Seth couldn't breathe correctly, it felt like the air was ripped from his lungs. His red tinted fingers clawed in his lance. A vertiginous nausea crawled up from his stomach to his mouth. Franz blinked slowly.

"Ge- General... Seth..." the boy whispered weakly. Seth stared at him shocked. Numbness fanned out from his chest to his fingers and made him completely motionless. He tried to say something, anything but he couldn't move his lips. His heart hammered against his ribcage and a strange deafness ruled out any other noise than the boy´s labored breathing.

_Where are your legs with which you run, hurroo, hurroo _

_Where are your legs with which you run, hurroo, hurroo _

_Where are your legs with which you run_

_When you went for to carry a gun_

_Indeed your dancing days are done_

_Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye._

"Ge... General, I..." He coughed up blood and a gurgling noise came out of his mouth. Seth couldn't speak, couldn't think. The only thing he could do was comparing that broken body in front of him with the jolly, and slightly antsy boy, who admired him so much. Franz had always paid strict attention to everything Seth had taught the young recruits; he had memorized every little word. His green eyes always had glowed with elation when Seth had showed him a new maneuver or had given him an advice. Franz had tried so hard to be like Seth. Sometimes it had made Seth a bit uncomfortable but he was always proud that he was the role model of such a promising young knight. Most people had found his enthusiasm odd or over the top but Seth knew that Franz only wanted to make his late father and brother proud of him.

_Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg, hurroo, hurroo_

_Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg, hurroo, hurroo_

_Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg_

_Ye're an armless, boneless, chickenless egg_

_Ye'll have to put with a bowl out to beg_

_Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye._

Seth swallowed his nausea when he let his gaze wander over his body. He had lost his right leg. Seth didn't dare to take a closer look. It probably lay somewhere nearby. The only connection between his right arm and his body were a few sinews and a shred of muscle. Seth closed his eyes pained. The only reason Franz had wanted to enter the fight to prove his strength to Seth. He had wanted to show that he was worthy of the promotion Seth had suggested.

"Ge...neral-" Seth heard a pained cough and a groan. He slowly opened his red eyes. Tears rolled down Franz´ white cheeks, several red streaks adorned them. He barely could force his mouth open to form words, his whole body shook violently. "Pl- Please..." Seth bit down hard on his lip. His own eyes burned with tears. He nodded. Franz tried to smile but all he could produce was a pained grimace. His green eyes slowly faded when Seth lifted his chest plate slightly and positioned his lance over Franz´ heart. Seth threw a last glance at Franz, looking into dull eyes.

"I'm sorry." Seth whispered with regret dripping from his voice and pushed down. The sound of ripping flesh pervaded through his whole body, making him gag lightly. Franz gargled one last time before his eyes slowly closed and his chest quit moving. Seth supported himself on his lance and lowered his head. He felt a pressure on his throat; he couldn't breathe regularly. "I'm sorry." A lonely tear escaped his eyes and mingled on the way down with the blood on his cheeks.

Seth stood there for a long time, his lance still plunging in Franz´ chest. Absentminded he heard footsteps and the clatter of armor. Slowly he looked up. The soldiers stopped a few feet in front of him, too frightened to come near.

"Fetch a stretcher."

_I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo_

_I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo_

_I'm happy for to see ye home_

_All from the island of Sulloon_

_So low in flesh, so high in bone_

_Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye._

Seth stared at the body with blurry eyes. Franz looked so peacefully. His soft features didn't belong to an adult but a child. He had been too young to fight on the battlefield. He had deserved a long and happy life, not the pitiful death of the deadly wounded, killed by his own allies in an act of mercy.

The men returned with the stretcher and carefully lifted him onto it. The fabric instantly was tinged red. The soldiers didn't dare to approach Seth and quickly left with the body. Seth still stared on the ground. After a long time -or a few minutes, Seth had lost every sense of time- he heard a voice.

"General Seth?" The redhead looked up slowly. Next to him stood a blond man with reddish brown armor, his long hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore a worried expression on his face. "Do you know where Franz is? I can't find him." Seth felt a twitch in his chest. He tried to open his mouth and tell the man that he had killed his brother a few minutes ago but he could only whimper lowly. "General?" Forde asked confused and concerned. He put one hand on an area on Seth´s arm which was not covered with armor and looked him in the eye. "What happened?" Seth turned his head away, shutting his eyes close, causing a single tear to slip past his self-control. Forde´s hand on his arm clenched shortly before it slipped downwards. "What... He´s- No!" Seth only nodded.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

Geoffrey: It´s sad. Why did you write something so sad? Not nice.

Me: Quiet. I was a bit depressed at that time. Shortly after I discovered the Irish Rovers for me, I heard the song for the first time. And I thought it was funny because the refrain was really cool. But since I understood not one word I thought it was a drinking song like the others. Then I looked up the lyrics and was shocked. It´s such a sad song! I was instantly depressed because I had thought it was funny. And then somehow the idea for this ´fic crept up my spine.

Seth: Franz didn´t deserve that.

Me: I know.

Geoffrey: Poor Forde.

Me: I know.

Seth: If you know all this why did you write it?

Me: Hey, it´s not like I can regulate my inspirations. Just like your deathfic.

Seth: What?!

Me: Well, Geoffrey, let´s end it here.

Geoffrey: Until we meet again!!

Seth: Hey wait! You can´t stop it now! What did you write with me!!?


End file.
